Freestyle Skiing 2016 - 2017 Discussion Thread

[hckošice 14,822]

Cox and Kingsbury wrap up Olympic test event weekend on top

 

The second of this weekend’s Olympic test event World Cup competitions took to the future home of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games on Saturday in Korea, with moguls World Cup leaders Britt Cox (AUS) and Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) taking the wins and furthering their holds atop their respective leaderboards.

 

With a supremely well-prepared moguls course on hand to allow the men and ladies of the FIS Freestyle moguls World Cup to strut their stuff and perhaps show off who might be on top come time for the Games next season, competition was at an extremely high level all day.

Leading the charge from start to finish on the ladies’ side was Cox, whose storybook 2016/17 season continues to impress. Taking top spot in qualifications and final one, Cox was the one to beat heading the big final. 

 

There, staring down the course where she should be a favourite to medal in one year’s time, Cox simply shrugged off any pressure and laid down what was almost certainly the best run of the competition. While she locked in the third fastest time and second best jumping scores in her final run, Cox took the decision on the basis of her exceptional turns and control from top to bottom. 

 

“I’m just happy to put down three consistent runs today,” said a smiling Cox, who took the win with a score of 81.66, “The course here was so good today. One of the biggest questions people have been asking all week is ‘What’s the course like?’ and I’ve got to say it’s just as straightforward as it gets, which means we can just get in there and have so much fun skiing in it. Today was excellent.”

 

Second and third on the day once again went to the Canadian squad, with Justine Dufour-Lapointe and Andi Naude rounding out the podium, separated by just fractions of a point once the dust had settled. Dufour-Lapointe would take second with a score of 78.35 while Naude, who is consistently registering some of the highest jumping scores from event to event this season, would take third with a score of 78.16.

 

Cox is now 171 points clear of Dufour-Lapointe on the ladies’ World Cup leaderboard, with 605 points to Dufour-Lapointe’s 434.

 

Kingsbury edges Reiherd by the barest of margins

In the men’s competition it was Mikael Kingsbury taking his third victory in a row and fifth of the season - though he did so by the smallest margin of any victory in his career. 

 

Dropping last in Saturday’s competition after qualifying in first and earning the top score in the first final round, Kingsbury knew he would be in tough after watching Kazakstan’s Dmitriy Reiherd but down a finals run that earned him the highest jumping scores of any athlete all evening and a final score of 86.70. 

 

In response to Reiherd's run, Kingsbury turned on the gas, putting down the fastest time of the finals as well as registering the highest turn scores of the night to earn himself a score of 86.71 - just .01 better than Reiherd. 

 

“Tonight was insane, beating Dmitriy by .01,” Kingsbury said, standing beside Reiherd in the finish, “Tonight’s competition was super tight and I gave all I had, so I’m super happy with this win.”

 

Third place went to Kingsbury’s teammate and good friend Philippe Marquis, earning his second podium in the last three events and giving the Canadian squad four podiums total on the night. 

 

“Oh my gosh, what a venue!” said Marquis after the competition, clearly enjoying his moment, “I’m ready for PyeongChang 2018! It was a great day, great skiing. The level of competition was extremely high, and I’m so stoked to get out of here with a podium.”

 

On the World Cup leaderboard Kingsbury now extends his advantage to nearly 250 points, with 620 to Ben Cavet’s 372.

 

From PyeongChang the moguls World Cup now moves to Tazawako (JPN), for both moguls and dual moguls competition from February 18-19. 

 

 

 

Full Results Men and Women

 

 

[hckošice 14,822]

Swiss party dominates the big air finals in Quebec City

 

Swiss party led by Mathilde Gremaud and Kai Mahler has dominated the big air World Cup finals staged at 2017 Snowjamboree downtown in Quebec City.

The event in front of a huge crowd of spectators also served as final stop of the first ever big air Super Series, a tour within the tour.

In the ladies' competition  Mathilde Gremaud led the Swiss podium sweep with Giulia Tanno finishing on second and Sarah Hoefflin ending up on third. After two second places in Milan and Mammoth earlier this season, 17 years old Gremaud made it all the way up on top of the podium earning her first ever World Cup victory.

 

Swiss athletes also grabbed the overall Super Series win with a total of 225 points, 25 points ahead of the runner-up Silvia Bertagna (ITA) who finished the day just behind the podium on fourth.

 

"I'm just supper happy," Gremaud said following the award ceremony, "I'm also a little bit surprised, because I didn't know I could also win the overall Super Series. It was the sickest competition I've ever done and I'm also super proud of my teammates Giulia and Sarah who share the podium with me tonight."

On the men's side Kai Mahler stomped exact the same tricks that got him the win in the first city big air stop in Milan back in November, and once again, perfectly executed switch dub misty 1260 mute grab and carved tripled 1620 safety were just enough to secure the spot on top of the podium.

 

Similarly to Gremaud, also Mahler took home the overall Super Series win, jumping over the second on the day Henrik Harlaut of Sweden, by a margin of as much as 7 points.

 

"I was not expecting to do the triple at all," Mahler said from the finish area. "The shapers added a little bit more pop on the jump, so I decided in the training to try one and it worked out pretty well. I also wasn't expecting to get the Super Series win, because Henrik was skiing really good, but it was a tight battle and with two wins in Milan and Quebec I managed to land on top."

Mahler's teammate Andri Ragettli rounded out the men's podium on third.

 

After the fourth big air World Cup stop in Quebec City  it is still Swedish duo of Emma Dahlstrom and Henrik Harlaut to sit on top of the leaderboard with only one more competition in the schedule, taking place on Friday, March 24 in Voss (NOR).

 

The FIS freestyle skiing World Cup tour will continue on Sunday in Stoneham Mountain Resort where the penultimate slopestyle event of the season will take place with the finals kicking of at 1pm EST.

 

 

Full Results Men and Women

 

 

[hckošice 14,822]

Thompson and Leman capture victories for Canada in Idre Fjall SX

 

An excellent weekend of competition on the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup tour wrapped up in Idre Fjall (SWE) on Sunday with a huge day for the Canadian squad, with Marielle Thompson and Brady Leman both taking top spots in their respective races in impressive fashion.

The ladies' big final on Sunday saw the Thompson lined up against Saturday's winner Sandra Naeslund (SWE), Fanny Smith (SUI), and Heidi Zacher (GER) for something of a dream final with all of the top four ranked ladies on the World Cup tour this season squaring off in battle royale. 

 

However, despite the wealth of talent on display in the final, Thompson was never really challenged at any point in the heat, moving smoothly through the course's tricky start section and quickly into a lead that she would only build upon through the rest of the heat.

 

Smith slipped into second behind Thompson to begin with, but was caught by Naeslund just before the start of the big Idre Fjall straightaway and the Swiss skier would not be able to make up any ground Naeslund’s second place result gave the 20-year-old two podiums in tow days, while Smith’s third-place was her fifth podium of the season. Zacher was forced to settle for fourth.

 

“I was just trying to ski as fast as I could in the final because I knew, after yesterday, that it’s easy to get passed if you make mistakes here,” said Thompson, smiling, “So I was just trying to be super smooth. I know Sandra is really fast and I was expecting her to be right there with me at the end, but I guess I did what I wanted to do. I skied my race and I’m super happy with that.”

 

With the win, Thompson extends her lead on the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup to 135 points over Naeslund, with 765 to the Swede’s 630. Smith sits just back of Naeslund with 603 points.

 

Leman snaps five year drought with win

As with Saturday’s competition, the men’s race on Sunday in Idre Fjall was an unpredictable affair, with many of the top skiers bowing out well before they would have liked to or most would have expected. 

 

However, one man who did rise to the occasion was Canada’s Brady Leman, as 2016/17’s most consistent ski cross athlete was able to finally able to earn a victory and break out of a pattern that has seen him earn 17 podiums without a win since February 2012. 

 

Leman lined in the big final against the French pair of Arnaud Bovolenta and Jonas Devouassoux (after those two were able to get by their teammate and World Cup leader Jean Frederic Chapuis in the semi final), as well as Austrian speedster Adam Kappacher. 

 

Through the start section and the first two corners it remained neck-and-neck between Leman and Devouassoux before the Canadian was able to move into the lead, leaving the other three skiers to battle behind him. While Kappacher looked to be reeling in Devouassoux to steal second place, it would actually be Bovolenta who would prove fastest of the three down the final straightaway.

 

Leman punched his way across the finish line just ahead of Bovolenta for the third victory of his career and first in five years, with Devouassoux taking third and Kappacher earning a career-best fourth-place result. 

 

Leman had five runner-up results in 2016/17 leading up to the race in Idre Fjall, and the Canadian was clearly relieved to make the move to the top step on the podium on Sunday.

 

“It feels good to finally perform in the finals the way I know I can,” he said following the awards, “Sometimes you come second and you feel like you’ve lost, but that hadn’t been the case for me this season. I’ve actually been pretty pleased with the way I’ve skied for those results, even though it just wasn’t quite there. Today though I just had a ton of confidence. I went for the win right from the top and I was able to hold on. It was perfect skiing right when I needed it in the final.

 

“And it’s a big day for the team. It always feels like a lousy day when Canada doesn’t have anyone on the podium and we didn’t have anyone on the podium yesterday. So, we weren’t gonna let that happen again today. And it’s great to see Marielle back on top after a tough crash last week.”

 

With the win, Leman has closed the gap on Chapuis to 143 points, with 616 points to Chapuis’ 759. 

 

After a break next weekend, the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup tour moves into the homestretch, with the competition slated for February 25th at a new ski cross World Cup venue in Sunny Valley (RUS) serving as the last stop before World Cup finals take to the slopes of Blue Mountain (CAN) in early March.

 

 

 

Full Results Men and Women

 

 

[hckošice 14,822]

KIlli and Ragettli victorious in slopestyle World Cup finals in Stoneham

 

The second competition day of the Snowjamboree World Cup event in Quebec is in the books with Johanne Killi (NOR) and Andri Ragettli (SUI) taking home big victories in slopestyle finals staged in Stoneham Mountain Resort.

In the ladies competition uprsising Norwegian freeskier Johanne Killi, went for her first ever World Cup win, making it also a third podium finish this season. Coming into the finals as top qualifier Killi received 88.80 points for her second run what moved her straight into the first position.

 

"It was a bit pressure today, because I'm aiming for the World Cup crystal globe so I really had to do my best and I'm very happy that it worked out well this time," Killi said following the award ceremony.

 

Sarah Hoefflin and Giulia Tanno once again proudly represented Swiss Freeski Team finishing for the second time this weekend with spot on the podium, Hoefflin took second place on the day only one point short behind Killi, while Tanno rounded out the podium on third.

 

With the second place in Stoneham Hoefflin also kept her lead in the slopestyle World Cup standing that she took over after the finals in Seiser Alm, and with 249 points after fourth stops, she still has 19 points advantage over second in the ranking Johanne Killi.

Ragettli stepped it up in men's competition and after finishing third in yesterday's big air finala,today  he stomped his best tricks including a switch dub misty 1260 followed by triple cork 1620 some technical game on the rails and with a high score of 94.60 points he claimed the win and the yellow World Cup leader bib.

 

"I was happy with my performance in the big air finals yesterday, but I knew I feel more comfortable in slopestyle so I really wanted to land my run," Ragettli said,  "I ended up on top of podium so I couldn't be more stoked right now."

Second place on the day went to James Woods representing Great Britain with Alex Beaulieu-Marchand taking third in front of his local crew, family and friends.

 

The FIS Freestyle World Cup continues next week in Korea, with the third halfpipe World Cup stop of the season taking place next week on Saturday, February 18.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full Results Men and Women

 

 

[hckošice 14,822]

Day one in Tazawako goes to Cox and Kingsbury

 

It was another weekend and another win for the top two skiers on the FIS Freestyle moguls World Cup tour, as Britt Cox (AUS) and Mikael Kingsbury (CAN), both massive frontrunners on the World Cup leaderboard, took the wins in the first of this weekend’s back-to-back competitions.

 

After bad weather wiped out Friday’s training session, the sun came out in Tazawako for competition day on Saturday, and the Canadians, the French, and one standout Australian came ready despite the shortened preparation time.

 

Through the qualifications and the first finals round of the ladies competition it looked like Perrine Laffont (FRA) was primed for a repeat performance on the slope where she earned her first World Cup victory last season. However, come time for the big final, Cox had other plans. 

 

While Laffont was able to score the highest turning scores of anyone in the big final, Cox’s faster time and better jumping gave her the edge, but by the slimmest of margins. When it was all said and done less than half a point separated the two skiers - Cox winning with a score of 78.57 to Laffont’s 78.36.

 

The win was Cox’s sixth of the season, giving her seven podiums in eight events and a 234 point lead over Laffont on the World Cup leaderboard. As worth noting is that Cox’s podium was the 24th for the Australian team across the Freestyle and Snowboard disciplines, marking a new season best for the nation.

 

Third for the ladies on Saturday went to Andi Naude (CAN), giving her three straight podiums and four podiums total on what is turning out to be a career year for the 21-year-old. 

 

Laffont, meanwhile, was able to leapfrog Justine Dufour-Lapointe (CAN) and move back into second spot on the moguls World Cup leaderboard, with 461 points to Cox’s 705. 

 

Kingsbury makes it four in a row

After some challenges earlier in the season, Mikael Kingsbury has now well and truly reasserted his dominance on the men’s moguls World Cup, taking his fourth straight win and his sixth victory of the year. 

 

Kingsbury already held wins in three of the previous four competitions in Tazawako, and on Saturday he proved again that the Japanese course is just to his liking. 

 

Kingsury’s big final score of 89.99 is one of the highest earned by any moguls skier in any stage this season, making it essentially impossible for his teammate and Saturday runner-up Philippe Marquis (CAN) to catch him. With the second fastest time of the finals and the highest jumping and turning scores by a significant margin, Kingsbury simply steamrolled Tazawako.

 

Marquis runner-up was his second-straight podium after a slow start to the season, and the result moves him up into fourth on the moguls leaderboard.

 

Third place for the men went to Ben Cavet (FRA) giving him his fifth podium on the season as he quietly racks up the points. He sits slightly more comfortably on the moguls World Cup leaderboard after Saturday, with 432 points to Kingsbury’s 720 and 27 points up on third overall Matt Graham (AUS)

 

Action in Tazawako resumes on Sunday with dual moguls competition, with preliminary heat beginning at 12:05 and finals slated for 13:30 JST.

 

 

 

 

Full Results Women and Men

 

 

[hckošice 14,822]

Martinod and Yater-Wallace claim wins at Olympic test event in Korea

 

Marie Martinod (FRA) and Torin Yater-Wallace (USA) have claimed victories in the halfpipe World Cup event staged in Bokwang Phoenix Park, which also served as the official test event ahead of the next year's PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

In the ladies' competition French star Marie Martinod set the bar up high early with her first attempt, stomping her signature run with back-to-back 540s followed by back-to-back flairs and a big leftside 900 tindy to move her on top of the pack with 91.60 points. At the end of the day Martinod's first run score appeared to be also the highest one as she took her third consecutive World Cup win of the season.

"It's great to win here in Korea, one year before the Olympics," Martinod said after the competition, "It's very exciting but it definitely will put some pressure on me. I hope I can deal with that pressure, move back to training and come back well-prepared for the final test."

With yet another win and 300 points in the ranking, Martinod has also secured herself the halfpipe World Cup crystal globe as now she'll be looking to claim the prize in front of the home crowd at the season's last stop in Tignes.

Devin Logan (USA) finished the competition on the second place with Ayana Onozuka (JPN) rounding out the ladies' podium on third.

In men's event top qualifier from Thursday, Torin Yater-Wallace had it all under control and keeping his momentum after the win in Mammoth, the US rider put today yet another one on his account. Despite struggling with a heel injury Yater-Wallace managed to stomp his first run going both huge and stylish on each of his four hits including right dub 1260 mute, left 1080 tail, switch right 720 safety and left alley-oop dub flatspin 900 japan, summing up for a total score of 95.60 points.

"It's really cool to ski in Korea and see the venue before the Olympics," Yater-Wallace said following the award ceremony, "It feels awesome to be here and I feel very lucky to end up on the first place."

Aaron Blunck, also representing USA, finished just behind Yater-Wallace on second, while Benoit Valentin of France had to settle for a third place finish.

With the victory today, Torin Yater-Wallace also jumped on top of the overall halfpipe World Cup ranking as he now leads the pack with 218 points. Aaron Blunck and Ben Valentin sit second and third with 190 and 185 points respectively while the last year's World Cup winner Kevin Rolland is currently holding to fourth spot with 179 points.

 

From February 6 to 7, the fourth and final stop of the halfpipe World Cup season is scheduled to take place in Tignes (FRA).

 

 

Full Results Men and Women

 

 

[hckošice 14,822]

Kauf and Kingsbury triumph in Tazawako dual moguls

 

A big weekend of back-to-back competitions in Tazawako (JPN) closed with an exciting dual moguls competition on Sunday, where 20-year-old Jaelin Kauf (USA) claimed the first win of her young career in the ladies’ event and Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) rattled off his fifth-straight victory in men’s competition while officially locking down the 2016/17 moguls World Cup title in the process.

 

In just her second full season and 16th competition on the World Cup tour, Kauf has already established herself as one of the fastest ladies’ in the world on a moguls course. This hard-charging style lends itself especially well to dual moguls competition, where the head-to-head nature of the challenge often pushes athletes outside of their comfort zone and forces them to make mistakes. With her win, Kauf now has three World Cup podiums, and all three are in the duals, proving that the high-intensity format suits her just fine.  

 

Kauf went toe to toe with Yulia Galysheva (KAZ) in a hard-fought big final that resulted in the closest ladies’ finals score we’ve seen this season, with judges scoring the matchup 19-16 in favour of Kauf. 

 

For Kauf, both of whose parents were champions on the Pro Moguls Tour, the moment was sweet.

 

“I can’t really describe how I’m feeling right now,” said Kauf. “I was just pushing the speed all day and trying to beat the other girls down the course. I wasn’t expecting this to happen, but it’s amazing and I couldn’t be happier.”

 

While losing out on such a close battle in the final was surely disappointing for Galysheva, Sunday’s result was the best of the season for the 24-year-old who finished 2015/16 ranked 4th overall, but who has struggled this season.

 

Third place on the day went to Olivia Giaccio (USA), as the 16-year-old in her first full season of World Cup competition capped a great day for the US ladies’ squad by capturing her first World Cup podium in just her 9th start. Giaccio bested last season's moguls crystal globe winner Chloe Dufour-Lapointe (CAN) easily after Dufour-Lapointe skied out of her line just before the bottom air bump. 

 

While she wasn’t part of the big finals picture Sunday, Australia’s Britteny Cox was still an important figure of the competition, as the 22-year-old earned herself a 9th-place finish while making official what has already been known by most for a long time; she will claim the 2016/17 moguls Moguls World Cup title.

 

Cox’s achievement is the biggest so-far in what has been huge season for the Aussie snow sports contingent, with her’s being the first moguls globe for the nation since Dale Begg-Smith did it in 2009/10. 

 

However, because of her season-low finish on Sunday, she was unable to lock up the Freestyle overall globe. Though it would take an unlikely sequence of events for her to lose her lead atop the overall standings - back-to-back wins by ski cross athlete Marielle Thompson (CAN) and a pair of results with zero or next-to-zero points for Cox would do it - the pressure is still on Cox to perform at next week’s World Cup finals. 

 

Kingsbury wins fifth straight event, sixth-straight globe

 

Over on the men’s side it was a man who needs no introduction doing again what he has done so many times in his storied career, as Mikael Kingsbury took his fifth win in a row and seventh of the season to lock up what will be his sixth-straight moguls title. And, as is the case with Cox, he is all but assured of taking the Freestyle overall globe at season end as well, which would also be his sixth-straight such title. 

 

Kingsbury squared off against second-ranked Ben Cavet (FRA) in the big final on Sunday and the heavyweight matchup did not disappoint, with both athletes throwing down identical jump combos and Cavet battling gamely to match Kingsbury’s relentless speed through the middle section of the course.

 

In the end, the men’s final ended up even more closely scored than the ladies’, with the 21-19 result swinging in Kingsbury’s favour.  And while it’s been a foregone conclusion for some time now, the win officially put Kingsbury out of reach of Cavet or any other athlete in the race for this season’s moguls World Cup titles. With one more strong performance next week in China, Kingsbury will again take home a pair of crystal globes.

 

“That was one of the craziest duals days I’ve had,” said Kingsbury, “But I felt really good today. I skied some strong duals against Dmitriy (Rieherd) and Daichi (Hara) in the blue course, which wasn’t the one I skied yesterday in singles. And then for the final I was back on the red course and it was all good.

 

“Now I just want to get some good quality skiing in China and then head to Spain on a mission to win two gold medals (at the world championships).”

 

Cavet’s performance gave him two podiums on the weekend and continued a remarkable season that has seen the 23-year-old Frenchman miss the podium only three times in nine competitions.

 

Third on the day went to Matt Graham (AUS), as the Australian returned to the podium for the first time since his victory in Calgary back in January by besting Dmitriy Reiherd (KAZ) in another closely fought matchup. With the performance, Graham was able to open up a little more breathing room between himself and Philippe Marquis (CAN) in the battle for third place on the moguls leaderboard. 

 

The moguls tour now moves to Thaiwoo, China, for the moguls World Cup finals which will feature another weekend of single and duals competitions on February 25-26, 2017. 

 

 

Full Results Men and Women

 

 

[heywoodu 15,135]

Arnaud Bovolenta  just took his first ever World Cup victory in Sunny Valley, but crashed with Bohnacker (I think, or Hronek) after the finish, hitting the sides of the finish area rather hard and now being stretchered off injured  

 

 

[OlympicsFan 858]

Crazy to see two german guys on the podium in ski cross, but no german girl ...

I wonder what happened to Daniela Maier ... she was first in the world cup standings and shortly after she suddenly disappeared ...

[hckošice 14,822]

Thompson and Bovolenta crowned victorious in Sunny Valley SX

 

One of the most spectacular Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup competitions in recent memory took place on Saturday at Russia’s Sunny Valley resort, where both Marielle Thompson (CAN) in the ladies’ final and Arnaud Bovolenta (FRA) in the men’s competition claimed photo-finish victories by razor-thin margins.

 

All weekend athletes and officials had been told about the huge crowds expected to attend Saturday’s competition at the newest venue on the ski cross World Cup circuit, and come time for the first heats to pull out of the gate on the snowy afternoon none were to be disappointed. With spectators lined up from top to bottom of the course and a packed grandstand greeting the athletes in the finish area, the atmosphere in Sunny Valley was electric. 

 

The ladies big final saw Thompson lined up alongside Sandra Naeslund (SWE), Ophelie David (FRA) and Marte Hoeie Gjefsen (NOR), where all four ladies pulled clean starts out of the gate before Thompson slid into the lead with Naeslund on her heels.

 

While Thompson had made her way to the big final mostly unchallenged, the last heat of the day for the ladies’ would change all that, as Naeslund hounded Thompson through the course’s top half before making a strong outside pass with half the race left to go. 

 

Naeslund maintained the lead through the final through corners and the final straightaway, looking for al the world like she would be able to hold on for her third win of the season. 

 

However, Thompson hung out in Naeslund’s draft through the final stretch before pulling out over the final jump and slingshotting ahead of the Swede at the last second, winning her sixth race of the year by a hand-length. 

 

“I knew I had a fair amount of speed being in Sandra’s draft and I thought maybe I could get her at the line,” a smiling Thompson said, holding the actual 24 carat gold-plated crown that was her winner’s reward, “It turns out I was right. It was a good reach. I was just hoping for the best, pretty much.”

 

With the win Thompson secured the third ski cross crystal globe of her career.

 

“It feels good to know I’ve got the globe,” she went on, “That was kind of what today was all about, having a good race and making it official so I can go to (the next event at) Blue Mountain with less stress. So today went perfectly. I’m thrilled.”

 

The great veteran David took home the third place medal on the day, making a great pass on Hoeie Gjefsen through the final straightaway to move onto the podium - the 64th of her career.

 

Bovolenta takes first World Cup win, injured in the process

Saturday’s men’s big final was no less thrilling than the ladies’, with multiple passes, another photo-finish, and a first career win for Arnaud Bovolenta that unfortunately resulted in an injury for the French skier after a crash with Daniel Bohnacker (GER) after crossing the line.

Out of the gate in the men’s big final it was Filip Fliar (SLO) who took the lead, and the reigning World Champion looked primed to repeat the performances of his earlier heats where he was consistently able to power his way to top spot.

 

However, with the top men of the day on his heels, a series of small mistakes leading to the final straightaway saw Flisar dump his speed and slide back to forth, while Bovolenta pulled ahead with Bohnacker and his German countryman Tim Hronek hot in pursuit. 

 

Through the final stretch and across the finish jump the four skiers fanned out in an almost dead-heat that Bovolenta would lead by an arm, with Hronek reaching his way into second and Bohnacker third.

 

However, Bohnacker’s efforts at the line meant he wasn’t prepared to put on the brakes when Bovolenta had raised his arms to celebrate, and the German crashed into the French winner before the two slid tangled together into the safety netting.

 

Bovolenta would need to be taken off course on a sled with a possible knee injury, leaving his coach Thibault Combre to accept his medal and crown in the awards ceremony.

 

While Bovolenta’s teammate Jean Frederic Chapuis was eliminated from competition in the first round of heats, with other top competitors Brady Leman (CAN) and Alex Fiva (SUI) also bowing out early, Chapuis found himself, like Thompson, assured of his third career ski cross crystal globe.

 

In an interview after awards, Chapuis spoke first of his teammate Bovolenta’s triumph and injury.

 

“When he got out of the start in second I thought, ‘Ah, this will be his first World Cup win,’” Chapuis said, “Then when I crossed the line I was obviously very happy for him. But we didn’t really see what happened with the crash on the TV. I spoke with him though and he said his knee isn’t so good, and when Bovo feels pain it’s good, because he doesn’t normally feel anything.”

 

Asked about his third-straight World Cup win - a feat which no man had accomplished before - Chapuis was in a better mood.

 

“I was kind of lucky today, with Brady and Alex both going out early, as well. But it’s good that this battle for the globe is over now, because when you get closer to the final there’s always more pressure. But to set the record for most globes in a row…I don’t know what to say. It’s cool.”

 

From here the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup now moves to Blue Mountain (CAN) for the World Cup finals, with the single competition set to take place on March 5, 2017.

 

 

Full Results Men and Women